Sustainable tourism is a concept that envelopes the whole tourism experience, with the concern for economic growth, environmental issues, social factors and improving tourists’ affairs as well as attending to the wants of host communities. The United Nations of Environmental Organization defines sustainable tourism as fully accounting for its present and future social, economic, and environmental effects, attending to the wants of the industry, visitors, host communities, and the environment (Angelevska-Najdeska, 2012). Thus, it is inclined to acknowledge every impact of tourism, both negative and positive, and it has an objective to maximize the positive and minimize the negative impacts to acquire the desired results. For instance, Cambodia’s tourism industry and destination are more recognized because it is the major source of income (Rakicevik, 2012). Cambodia is a third-world country with high technology techniques in the modern economy, and it is vulnerable to major concerns of any international problem that can be created. A study taken in Cambodia is a profound interest in international tourism development exploration in the third world. While tourism may negatively impact the local people, it regulates the economic growth of a country over a longer period. Cambodia has mantled the brand new 2030 agenda for sustainable advancement in eradicating poverty in all ways and dimensions. The international preview of tourism has shown that no matter the kind of tourism undertaken will involve a series of negative and positive impacts at the social and environmental levels (Byrd, 2007). The tourism boards have laid principles and guidelines to protect and protect the tourism industry from being exploited by human influence. Sustainable guidelines and management practices are relevant to all forms of terminals (Carter, 2015), including various tourism sections. Sustainability principles refer to the economic, environmental, and sociocultural characteristics of tourism industry development, and a favourable balance should be entrenched between all dimensions to guarantee long-term viability. The principle denotes that the resources that add to the key elements in tourism advancement, biodiversity conservation, and natural heritage should be optimally used. The available resources should be well utilized to bring out the desired output in the tourism industry (Chheang,2015). Secondly, another principle of sustainability tourism urges respecting the sociocultural legitimacy of host communities, conserving living and building cultural heritage together with traditional values, and adding some value to intercultural tolerance and understanding. Lastly, another principle ensures long-term economic functionalities and socio-cultural-economic merits to all shareholders that are distributed equally and stable income generation opportunities with social services and giving a hand to poverty alleviation (Sheridan, 2014). Hence, tourism development needs the informed involvement of all relevant shareholders and rigid political leadership to ensure consensus building and wide participation. Achieving the required objectives is an ongoing process, and it needs constant evaluation of impacts and the introduction of obligatory preventive and corrective strategies whenever called upon (Huang, 2009). Therefore, sustainable tourism is mandated to maintain contentment, ensure tourists have the best experience testimonials and promote tourism practices among them.
Stakeholders play a very important part in the evolution of the tourism industry. They supervise all the traditional and social practices and activities of every individual from different countries ( Lam, 1998). The private and public sector stakeholders have come together to execute the values and principles of business tourism. The tourism industry increases economic revenue, develops the infrastructure sector of an economy, creates employment opportunities, and advocates a sense of cultural swapping between citizens and foreigners. The participation of stakeholders is an important factor in the solid success of sustainable tourism advancement by helping balance and coordinate decision-making models based on the interests and needs of relevant parties. In the tourism industry, there are different types of stakeholders. The primary stakeholders comprise employees, shareholders, managers, and the board of directors. Employees of the tourism firm are invested in the company’s performance to ensure continuous payment and retainment of their jobs. Relying on the complexion of the business, the employees also have a safety and health focus. Hence, they should consider the firm’s aims and its sense of purpose. The role of employees in the tourism industry is very beneficial because they interact directly with the clients.
Further, they try, to higher extents, to ensure the clients are fully satisfied. Shareholders are only interested in a strong performance to achieve high-profit margins from their investments. Traditionally, most businesses have got along with a model of business model o shareholder centric. However, the realization of focus broadening on stakeholders makes it better for a long-term sense of business. On the other hand, managers are centred on project management and the normal running of the business. They manage all activities taking place in the firm at a ground level. They are crucial in realizing the immediate weaknesses and problems emerging during a business run. They can act upon these faults immediately for better performance of a company. Lastly, the board of directors plays a role in the efficient running of the business and achieving its prime focus by maximizing the business profits and attaining returns for investors.
On the other hand, external stakeholders comprise customers, government agencies, investors, and the wider community. Customers need to receive the best services and products possible. Also, they would want to see the business being important to society and reduce the negative environmental impacts. Suppliers will always require the business to demand more services and products. Government, regulatory bodies, and the community at large will look at the business as a source of job opportunities, supplier of goods and services, the user of the final products, and improving the economic state of a country. For instance, Cambodia has greatly benefited from the tourism firms and the role of stakeholders in the tourism industry has greatly geared its benefits.
The tourism industry faces many challenges, with macro-environmental factors being the major ones. The major factors affecting sustainable tourism industry development are; educational needs, economic concerns, tourism awareness, natural resources, demographic factors, legal and political forces, and technological factors. These factors impact the tourism industry in both negative and positive perspectives. Educational needs play a big role in student preparation to acquire professional knowledge and practical skills the tourism industry needs. Because tourism is a sector with intensive labour requirements, it is evident that practical training is as crucial as theoretical training. Learners are taking part in experiential studying in a field practical training environment aided with online applications yields a positive effect on reflection, awareness, and leadership skills. The industry’s workability will depend on employees’ knowledge and skills in demonstrating their work abilities in the business. Unskilled workers with low-level knowledge will not push the business to meet its objectives and desires as projected by the stakeholders. Education systems should be formulated and channelled to equip employees with the proper skills and knowledge for better tourism expansion. Economic state concerns also hinder the viability of the tourism industry. For instance, it relates to government contributions, employment generation, business opportunities, and earnings from foreign exchange. However, economic factors are advantageous to society today by creating a source of income for individuals and the state. For instance, Cambodia’s tourism and travel industry is an indispensable engine of its economic growth and expansion. It contributes 11.5% to the entire domestic product, sustains approximately 12.4 % of employment opportunities, and generates around $2.2 billion in tourism receipts. Tourism’s economic impacts are improved taxes, high standards of living, and increased income with more job opportunities.
Sociocultural effects are attached to interactions between individuals with different attitudes, behaviours, and cultural backgrounds. Cambodia’s incompetence to nourish the product bucket is extrapolated by inadequate labour and low per capita income, which eventually equates to developing economic complications. Tourism awareness also entails using available environmental resources to maintain the ecological balance in the atmosphere for better development (Getz, 2009). The surrounding is crucial to every creature that beckons the urge for tourism among many countries worldwide. Demographic elements hindering tourism typology include age, gender, income, household size, and nationality, whereas income hinders information sources, browsing time, and loyalty to agencies. Therefore, a change in demography influences economic growth rate, living standards, investment, and structural productivity. Finally, another macro environment factor contributing to the sustainable development of tourism is political and legal factors. In the long run, the governance of a country often influences the development sustainability in formulating regulations regarding border entry, visa, and tourist taxation. These regulations may either constrain or expand the activities of a tourism organization.
However, in selecting a tourist centre, clients tend to categorize their substitute choices based on a variety of touchstones, such as the domination perceptivity of a customer from one destination, self-motivation alongside time and money motivation. There are two motivating factors in the human psychology domain: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic factors describe the motivations of a tourist to conduct himself or herself in the view of personal satisfaction, high-level personal determination, pleasure, and autonomy without any panic of external force. This motivation concerns certifying one’s capabilities on unlike psychological fronts. Thus the tourists opt for intangible rewards like assurance and fun (Leung & Wong, 1998). These motivation factors include the tourist’s personality, values or beliefs of the tourist, customer attitudes, and his or her personality. In extrinsic motivation, a visitor gets excited by outward factors such as performance, money, and the urge to feel competent on the expenditure scale (Sutawa, 2009). External motives are liable to influence visitors and pull them toward a certain motive and subsequent decision. Therefore, motivation is the underlying strength of uplift and straightly affects behaviour.
Nevertheless, it appears when one attends to his desires. First, the issue of accommodation and the quality of food provided Is a great factor to consider when choosing a tourist attraction centre. An attraction with fancy and standardized accommodation alongside good food is likelier to have more visitors than a site with unstandardized accommodation and low-quality food. External factors such as money and the need to feel competent in expenditure and performance scale influence visitors’ interest in choosing a tourist site. The family and age factors greatly affect the structure and income perspective (Torres-Delgado, 2014). Nowadays, nuclear structure families, alongside double income, seem to choose long-distance tourism more than joint families with single-earning individuals interested in domestic places. Social class and culture are also motivating factors, whereas different tourists from different cultural backgrounds prefer to visit different events, places, and types of tourism. Lastly, the ever-altering of retail variables changes tourism. Changes in currency value, economic well-being, and political situations of a nation influence tourism.
To conclude, as discussed above, it is evident that sustainable development displays stability in environmental requirements. It provides resources for future generations; therefore, sustainable development is an appealing way to take good care of the resources provided naturally. The Cambodian state has established a rigid policy model for achieving a sustainability vision (Tsephe, 2013). The future building of worldwide tourism needs to be clarified due to the different worth and different aims existing in stakeholders within the end of the line. However, the tourism ministry should take control and administer a centre differentiation structure by aiming at sustainable tourism to enhance its development. Due to these impacts on the community, international tourism has been undermined by internal and external factors. However, stakeholders have played a great role in formulating models that will amicably guide the sites and their markets.
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